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- Box of Rocks : A Maggie Gorski Mystery Reviewed By Lavanya Karthik of Bookpleasures.com
Box of Rocks : A Maggie Gorski Mystery Reviewed By Lavanya Karthik of Bookpleasures.com
- By Lavanya Karthik
- Published December 6, 2011
- GENERAL FICTION REVIEWS
Lavanya Karthik
Reviewer
Lavanya Karthik: Lavanya is from Mumbai, India and is a licensed
architect and consultant in environmental management. She lives in
Mumbai with her husband and six-year old daughter. She loves reading
and enjoys a diverse range of authors across genres.
Click Here To Purchase Box of Rocks
Author: Karla Telega
Publisher: Adoro Books
ISBN:
978-0-615-49797-6
Maggie Gorski has much in life to be
thankful for – a loving husband, a good home, great friends, a
loving daughter. Yet she suffers from debilitating panic attacks,
that have cost her her job and that her ridiculously young therapist
can’t seem to cure her of. In a bid to channelize her energies into
something creative, Maggie and best friend Cher decide to find
themselves a hobby. What follows is a hilarious series of
misadventures as the girls blunder and wisecrack their way through
pastimes as bizarre as ghost hunting and rock collecting. Things
change, however, when they walk into a nearby town to engage in some
old fashioned gold prospecting.
Meanwhile, Paul Lakeland,
a young archaeologist finds evidence of what just might be an
important find, and arrives in the same town with his scheming
professor. Inevitably, the paths of the four cross. Old secrets
tumble out of Cher’s past as she comes face to face with some very
painful memories. When Paul is arrested for the murder of his
colleague, Maggie and Cher decide to stick around and help. Things
are complicated further by the presence of the very debonair young
lawyer, Jonathan , who pitches in to help , then sweeps Cher off her
feet.And who is the mysterious ‘Bear’, who seems hellbent
on murdering the unsuspecting Paul Lakeland? Author Telega cleverly
throws in a lot of characters into the mix – as also the odd sexual
romp - keeping her readers guessing as to the identity of the
killer.
Box of Rocks is funny – sometimes laugh
out loud funny – and introduces two unlikely detectives in what
could well become a mystery series. The book does take a while to get
to the mystery – the first few chapters are entertaining, but cause
the pace to flag a bit. However, things pick up considerably once the
girls hit the gold trail, and Cher’s past returns to haunt her.
The book also leaves us with a lot of loose ends – I would have
liked to see Cher find some closure, for instance, and the despicable
Mrs. Lakeland surely deserved some good old-fashioned comeuppance.
For me, the highlight of the book was the chemistry between
Maggie and Cher, two women who are diametrically opposite in
every way, yet share this strong unbreakable bond. It will be
interesting to see how things develop in the sequels I hope will
follow Box of Rocks.